If you’ve shuddered to think what a tax audit might be like, take heart: It’s worse.
At least that’s the picture directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert paint in “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
Starting in a humble laundromat, “Everything” expands to other worlds, universes and mindsets all in an attempt to show what’s swirling around the head of Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), the laundromat’s owner who’s stressed by the impending audit. Her father is a grumpy old man, her daughter is a rebel (at least in Evelyn’s world) and her husband (Ke Huy Quan) is a dissatisfied partner who wants out.
Adding to the misery, the auditor (an unrecognizable and very funny Jamie Lee Curtis) is a beast who isn’t going to let anyone slip through her hotdog fingers.
As the Wangs make their way up the I.R.S. elevator, life changes and, soon, they’re zipping through other universes and learning when to unleash high-level martial arts moves. The concept is so bizarre you just have to go with it and, soon, you’re ready for Evelyn to take on anyone.
The Daniels (as the directors are casually called) toss plenty at her, including scenes from a movie premiere (don’t ask), a cliff with two rocks, an out-of-hand party and a tornado of tax papers. At first, it’s hard to understand what’s afoot. Then, the comedy takes hold and “Everything” moves onto Terry Gilliam’s turf. It’s so wild even those hotdog fingers make sense.
Yeoh, though, is the glue that keeps this all together. She handles every odd situation with harried grace and figures out how to manage the storms that swirl about her. Easily, she could have handled the Avengers’ “Endgame” with more finesse than any of them.
Here, she’s a wife, mother and daughter who’s expected to have superpowers when trouble arises. The metaphors are obvious but that doesn’t stop the directors from imagining a world far more complex than Marvel ever conjured.
Remove the special effects, the quick edits, the wild costumes and the time jumps and “Everything” becomes a story of coping. It’s Evelyn’s “take me away” moment that shows just how well we can process everything.
There are messy moments (particularly those dealing with daughter Joy) but also ones that hit right where something this unhinged needs to land.
Veteran James Hong turns up as Evelyn’s father and he’s, again, one of those surprises you didn’t expect. When he finds a bonding moment, “Everything” suggests all can be right in the world. It’s just a matter of connecting the dots.
The champion: Yeoh, who’s so nimble in this she deserves to be on every Best Actress list next year.
“Everything Everywhere All At Once”? That’s what she offers.
